Tesla’s unveiling of Cybertruck resulted in quite a commotion on last Thursday. The much-awaited all-electric pickup truck has completely gone in a different direction as opposed to the expectations. The result makes the pickup truck look like something that was drawn by a child. However, it turns out that there is a good enough reason for this particular design.
CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to explain why Tesla went with this particular design. He wrote, ‘Reason Cybertruck is so planar is that you can’t stamp ultra-hard 30X steel, because it breaks the stamping press. Even bending it requires a deep score on inside of the bend, which is how the prototype was made.’ Cybertruck has already amassed around 200,000 orders since it made its debut. On 23rd November, the truck only had 146,000 orders. Musk has given a breakdown of the orders;
- 17% of the buyers went with the $39,900 model. It is a single-motor rear-wheel drive that offers more than 250 miles in terms of range and capable of 7,500 pounds of towing capacity. It can also go from 0 to 60 mph in under 6.5 seconds.
- 42% of the buyers chose the $49,900 model. This particular model is a dual-motor all-wheel-drive that offers more than 300 miles of range along with 10,000 pounds of towing capacity, and 0 to 60 mph in under 4.5 seconds.
- 41% of buyers chose the $69,900 model. It is a tri-motor all-wheel drive that provides more than 500 miles of range along with 14,000 pounds of towing capacity. It can go from 0 to 60 mph in under 2.9 seconds.
The first batch of Cybertruck will be going into production in late 2021. The body has been crafted using thick and ultra-hard stainless steel. This steel has been cold-rolled about 30 times. Musk said, ‘We’re going to be using the same alloy in the Starship rocket.’ Musk further explained, ‘We were going to use titanium skins for Cybertruck, but cold-rolled 30X stainless is much stronger. We’re creating this alloy at Tesla. Not a problem to create a lot of it, but we’ll need to come up with new body manufacturing methods, as it can’t be made using standard methods.’
This is definitely turning out to be a game-changer. But that is what has made Tesla always a name to be reckoned with; its ability to produce a change in a settled and developed market.
